One person suffered injuries after a fire ignited and quickly spread at the Schacht-Audorf yachtbuilding facilities of German shipyard Lürssen on Tuesday, July 2. The incident occurred at around 09:00 local time when the blaze ignited in one of the yard's assembly halls.
Witnesses said they heard multiple explosions as the assembly hall became engulfed in flames and black smoke. There have also been unconfirmed reports that a superyacht still under construction at the yard suffered damage from the fire.
Lürssen said in a statement that one individual was treated for minor injuries and that all shipyard personnel have been evacuated by responding firefighters and police. Fireboats were also deployed to the area, and vessel traffic along the nearby Kiel Canal was temporarily halted as a precaution.
The smoke from the fire reached the nearby city of Schacht-Audorf. This then prompted the local authorities to order the immediate evacuation of residents from a number of homes.
The assembly hall's roof and some exterior walls collapsed later in the day, as firefighters had been unable to enter the area to douse it with water due to temperatures reaching as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius. Officials assured that the fire has since been contained, though they expect smoldering to last into the next few days.